10 November, 2017
Build biomass earlier
It is important to ensure wheat crops get off to a good start to give them the best chance to begin building biomass early on before they ‘shut down’ for the winter period. An earlier sown crop will have more leaves going into the spring; which equates to more roots and therefore it has more capacity to take up water and nutrients when required in the spring.
With wheat crops being sown later in October to December into colder soils they don’t have the time to increase their biomass much before they slow down their growth over winter. Therefore some extra help, in the form of micronutrients, for these later sown crops will help with nutrient uptake and growth pre-winter.
A return on investment of 2.5:1
Recent Yara trials have shown that an application of YaraVita Gramitrel at 2L/ ha in the autumn and again in the spring gave a 0.4t/ha yield benefit – this is a ROI of 2.5:1. It contains a mixture of key micronutrients for cereals crops including Mn, Cu, Zn and Mg.
Manganese is key to establishment as it is necessary for photosynthesis and protein synthesis, aids meristem production and is an activator for many enzyme processes e.g. nitrate reductase.
Magnesium is a central part of the chlorophyll molecule of green plants, and as such, plays an important role in photosynthesis. It also plays an important role in the synthesis of proteins and in phosphate and nitrate metabolism so again is important at this early stage of growth.
Zinc also plays a role here as optimum zinc promotes auxin levels, aiding canopy development.
Find more information on YaraVita micronutrients.
Cereal agronomy advice
